Critical Incident Research Articles

Intersecting hostilities around the European migration crisis: the case of Carola Rackete and the Sea-Watch 3

ABSTRACT On June 29, 2019, Carola Rackete docked the rescue ship Sea-Watch 3 on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, in defiance of a ban imposed by Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The migrants rescued by the Sea-Watch 3 had been blocked at sea for the previous two weeks, making it to international headlines and sparking a heated debate around sovereignty and humanitarianism in the face of the European migration crisis. On her arrival, Rackete was arrested for refusing to obey a military vessel and aiding illegal immigration. This paper investigates social media and international news discourses around the Sea-Watch 3 docking, to be regarded as a critical incident capable of catalysing attention and generating a significant media resonance. Results show how both social and traditional media contributed to the proliferation of misogynous attacks against Captain Rackete, at the intersection between right-wing populist discourses of Italian ‘sovranism’ and European anti-immigrationism. By triangulating the role of the media, intersectional hostility and populist ideology, this paper sheds light on how these three factors feed into each other in the discursive construction of the ‘Fortress Europe’ of present times.

Das Hausarztmodell in der Schweiz beschrieben am Beispiel des Ärztenetzes mediX luzern

The majority of the Swiss population is insured in a general practitioner model. mediX luzern is a network of primary care practices providing guidance and care for those insured with the general practitioner model on their patient path. The network is committed to constant quality optimization in its member practices. Interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration is promoted inside and outside the practice, and the interfaces between outpatient and inpatient care are optimized. In joint quality circles, medical practice guidelines and patient health information are developed. All practices are required to be certified by the Equam Foundation. The culture of error is actively encouraged as part of quality management by practicing critical incidence reporting. Lastly, research questions are discussed and data is collected in collaboration with academic centers and institutes for primary care, in particular in Zurich and Lucerne. These quality management efforts and the formation of group practices, which enable part-time work, promote the next generation of general practitioners. Even though cantons and universities provide support, further efforts will be necessary in the future to be able to continue to shape primary care services according to the population’s needs.

The impact of critical incidents, work stress, and organizational support on PTSD symptoms among law enforcement officers: a moderated moderation model

ABSTRACT Law enforcement officers regularly encounter critical incidents, which can result in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Multiple factors could impact the association between critical incidents and PTSD, particularly work environment stress (WES) and perceived organizational support (POS). We hypothesized that WES would moderate the association between critical incident frequency and PTSD symptoms, with POS interacting with WES to moderate the association. The current study used cross-sectional data from a sample of 120 officers (average age = 42.23 years, SD = 11.09; 80.8% male). WES interacted with critical incident frequency to impact PTSD symptoms (p = .05), while POS did not significantly moderate the association. Exploratory analyses identified only organizational stress as a significant moderator (p = .03). The current results provide insights regarding interactions between organizational supports and stressors, as well as PTSD symptoms, underscoring the potential importance of using research to guide the development of departmental policies and programs. Additional prospective experimental research is also needed.

Observational Implications of OJ 287’s Predicted 2022 Disk Impact in the Black Hole Binary Model

We present a summary of the results of the OJ 287 observational campaign, which was carried out during the 2021/2022 observational season. This season is special in the binary model because the major axis of the precessing binary happens to lie almost exactly in the plane of the accretion disc of the primary. This leads to pairs of almost identical impacts between the secondary black hole and the accretion disk in 2005 and 2022. In 2005, a special flare called “blue flash” was observed 35 days after the disk impact, which should have also been verifiable in 2022. We did observe a similar flash and were able to obtain more details of its properties. We describe this in the framework of expanding cloud models. In addition, we were able to identify the flare arising exactly at the time of the disc crossing from its photo-polarimetric and gamma-ray properties. This is an important identification, as it directly confirms the orbit model. Moreover, we saw a huge flare that lasted only one day. We may understand this as the lighting up of the jet of the secondary black hole when its Roche lobe is suddenly flooded by the gas from the primary disk. Therefore, this may be the first time we directly observed the secondary black hole in the OJ 287 binary system.

MOCK CONFERENCE IN PRE-SERVICE TRANSLATORS TRAINING

The given research deals with one of the most important issues related to pre-service translators’ training such as both language and professional skills development in Kazakhstani settings. Thus, skills in oral translation from English into Kazakh and/or Russian and vice versa are in pretty high demand these days that is why one of the aims of Translation and interpreting internship course is to develop the consecutive translation skills of pre-service translators. So, to imitate the conditions of interpreters’ work we conducted the mock conference dedicated to the main problems of Translation studies and Linguistics in the frame of the above mentioned course. The main idea of this case study was to involve our students into both research and professional activity as well as to develop their language and consecutive translation skills. Our research population included 47 students who worked both as presenters and interpreters in the frame of the mock conference procedure. Then we conducted the opinion survey using the online tools provided by the Moodle platform (in our case, the option of Critical incident survey had been chosen as the most appropriate one).

Incorporating Solution-Focused Crisis Intervention into Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) with Firefighters

ABSTRACT This multiple case study explores how the incorporation of SFCI into the practice of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) impacts a first responder peer-support process. Over four sessions of classroom-based training, participants learned and practiced the application of SFCI in a CISM structure. A constant comparison method was used to produce five overarching themes: intentionality, becoming solution-focused informed, integration of new ideas, questions as interventions, and CIRT self-care. The addition of SFCI empowered the participants to employ tools that promote each individual’s strength and resource building for impacted peers.

Police negotiators and suicide crisis situations: a mixed-methods examination of incident details, characteristics of individuals and precipitating factors

Police negotiators provide leadership and expertise in the de-escalation and resolution of critical incidents, including responding to individuals exhibiting suicidal behaviour. This study describes the frequency and characteristics of suicide-related negotiation incidents in Queensland, Australia as classified in the Queensland Police Service Negotiator Deployment Database, between 2012 and 2014. Incidents were analysed to understand the individuals involved and precipitating factors including mental health problems and intoxication with alcohol or drugs. Police negotiators were deployed to 156 suicide intervention incidents over a 3-year period, half of which occurred at a residence. The cohort had a median age of 32 years and were predominantly male (82%). Four out of five individuals appeared to have a mental health problem, and at least half were intoxicated due to drugs or alcohol. Findings highlight the importance of strong linkages between police, health and social services and the need for innovative and comprehensive, cross-agency programmes.

Hospital-Based Interventions to Address Provider Grief: A Narrative Review.

Provider grief, i.e., grief related to the death of patients, often forms an ongoing and profound stressor impacting healthcare providers' ability to maintain their sense of well-being, avoid feeling overwhelmed, and sustain quality and compassionate patient care over time. This narrative review presents findings on the types of interventions hospitals have offered to physicians and nurses to address provider grief. Searches of PubMed and PsycINFO were conducted for articles (e.g., research studies, program descriptions and evaluations) focused on hospital-based interventions to help physicians and nurses cope with their own grief. Twenty-nine articles met inclusion criteria. The most common adult clinical areas were oncology (n=6), intensive care (n=6), and internal medicine (n=3), while eight articles focused on pediatric settings. Nine articles featured education interventions, including instructional education programs and critical incident debriefing sessions. Twenty articles discussed psychosocial support interventions, including emotional processing debriefing sessions, creative arts interventions, support groups, and retreats. A majority of participants reported that interventions were helpful in facilitating reflection, grieving, closure, stress relief, team cohesion, and improved end-of-life care, yet mixed results were found related to interventions' effects on reducing provider grief to a statistically significant degree. Providers largely reported benefits from grief-focused interventions, yet research was sparse and evaluation methodologies were heterogenous, making it difficult to generalize findings. Given the known impact provider grief can have on the individual and organizational levels, it is important to expand providers' access to grief-focused services and to increase evidence-based research in this field.

Binocular head-mounted chromatic pupillometry can detect structural and functional loss in glaucoma.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of binocular chromatic pupillometry in detecting impaired pupillary light response (PLR) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and to assess the feasibility of using binocular chromatic pupillometer in opportunistic POAG diagnosis in community-based or telemedicine-based services. In this prospective, cross-sectional study, 74 patients with POAG and 23 healthy controls were enrolled. All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations including optical coherence tomography (OCT) and standard automated perimetry (SAP). The PLR tests included sequential tests of full-field chromatic stimuli weighted by rods, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), and cones (Experiment 1), as well as alternating chromatic light flash-induced relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) test (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, the constricting amplitude, velocity, and time to maximum constriction/dilation were calculated in three cell type-weighted responses, and the post-illumination response of ipRGC-weighted response was evaluated. In Experiment 2, infrared pupillary asymmetry (IPA) amplitude and anisocoria duration induced by intermittent blue or red light flashes were calculated. In Experiment 1, the PLR of POAG patients was significantly reduced in all conditions, reflecting the defect in photoreception through rods, cones, and ipRGCs. The variable with the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was time to max dilation under ipRGC-weighted stimulus, followed by the constriction amplitude under cone-weighted stimulus and the constriction amplitude response to ipRGC-weighted stimuli. The impaired PLR features were associated with greater visual field loss, thinner retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and cupping of the optic disk. In Experiment 2, IPA and anisocoria duration induced by intermittent blue or red light flashes were significantly greater in participants with POAG than in controls. IPA and anisocoria duration had good diagnostic value, correlating with the inter-eye asymmetry of visual field loss. We demonstrate that binocular chromatic pupillometry could potentially serve as an objective clinical tool for opportunistic glaucoma diagnosis in community-based or telemedicine-based services. Binocular chromatic pupillometry allows an accurate, objective, and rapid assessment of retinal structural impairment and functional loss in glaucomatous eyes of different severity levels.

Second Victim Syndrome and Organizational Support for Healthcare Providers: A Scoping Review

Purpose: Healthcare providers may experience critical incidents, medical errors, or other adverse patient events in their clinical practice.Providers that encounter such events can experience second victim syndrome (SVS), a condition where providers feel psychological, cognitive, or physical reactions rendering care in these instances. Organizational support may mediate the impacts of SVS after an adverse patient event. We conducted a scoping review to explore and synthesize the literature on the support strategies implemented by healthcare organizations for healthcare providers after adverse patient events. Methods: The initial search strategy yielded 244 articles, 84 of which were removed for duplication. The 3-person review team completed title and abstract screening, reference screening, and full-text review, reaching 2-person consensus for article inclusion at each phase. To be included in analysis, studies had to be conducted in the United States, include real or perceived outcomes of organizational support strategies for healthcare providers related to adverse patient events. During title and abstract screening, 144 articles did not meet inclusion criteria. The references of the remaining articles (n = 16) were screened and 6 articles were added to the review pool. Twenty-two articles were included in the full text analysis, 16 articles were removed for not meeting the inclusion criteria. Six articles were included in the final extraction and analysis. Results: The 6 studies assessed SVS and organizational support across a variety of healthcare work settings and professions. Findings indicated that healthcare providers believe organizational support after adverse patient events was or would be beneficial for minimizing SVS. They further demonstrated a discrepancy in the types of support strategies healthcare providers preferred or desired after an adverse event, as the level of agreement differed between sampled populations.Conclusion: Healthcare providers believe support from their organization is important after experiencing an adverse patient event, but support strategies may not be universal. Organizations should establish provider support systems for adverse events, but first need to assess provider preferences to implement the strategies most desired. As organizations develop their support systems, they should consider the interprofessional nature of their staffs to aid in collective support following an adverse event.

Strategies employed for information transfer and relation building in intercultural communication – A cross-cultural study

The aim of the study is to examine strategies used in intercultural encounters by Polish and Turkish students of Foreign Languages (n1=50, n2=50, respectively) who have experienced intercultural communication. Intercultural encounters are viewed as ‘language-in-action’ situations because they provide a rich source of information about linguistic devices used during intercultural exchanges, sources of misunderstanding and miscommunication, and strategies implemented to transfer information or maintain conversational involvement of the interlocutors. This study offers some insights into the frequency and variety of the strategies used in intercultural encounters. It was conducted as a small-scale project, with the Critical Incident Technique and questionnaires administered to collect data. The research participants (C1/C2 levels of proficiency) were supposed to produce written narratives describing the most memorable intercultural encounters and report on intercultural communication strategies. Their narratives were later analysed to identify strategies applied to manage intercultural communication and achieve communicative goals (e.g. maintaining contact and/or conveying necessary information). Research findings show that Proactively seeking clarification and Building intercultural connection or relationship were the most frequent strategies used by these two groups. However, research results also suggest that the choice of strategies depends on such factors as the participants’ level of language proficiency, their cultural background or the quality and quantity of intercultural contacts. Cross-cultural analysis indicates that Turkish students are more socially- and culturally oriented, whereas Polish students display a tendency to focus more on cognitive and linguistic aspects of intercultural encounters. Findings from the study can be of help for educators and trainers involved in researching intercultural communication, strategic involvement and training.

Exploring the Lived Experiences of Middle Grades Teacher Candidates Engaging in Critical Consciousness to Inform Equity-Oriented and Responsive Teacher Education

To inform equity-oriented and responsive middle grades teacher education, the current article is a qualitative study of the lived experiences of middle grades teacher candidates enacting critical consciousness in their first semester in a two-year equity-oriented middle grades teacher preparation program. Equity-oriented and responsive middle grades teacher education is defined as professional learning for middle grades preservice and inservice teachers that advances their development of critical consciousness, develops their capacity, knowledge, and skills as culturally and developmentally responsive teachers of young adolescents, and attends to their cultural and historical locations, pedagogical needs, interests, and concerns. Using a phenomenological research tradition and theories of critical consciousness and culturally relevant pedagogies, researchers closely examined 20 participants’ narratives and annotated reflections on how they “read the world” as perceived through the lenses of their cultural and historical locations and their descriptions of their experiences with critical incidents of perceived injustice as documented in Justice Journals. Two major themes emerged in participants’ data regarding their lived experiences of engaging in critical consciousness: (1) noticing and commenting on systems of oppression and (2) describing responses and strategies in connection to instances and patterns of injustice. Within the theme of noticing and commenting on systems of oppression, three sub-themes included (a) gender socialization, (b) classism, and (c) racism. Within the theme of describing responses and strategies in connection to instances and patterns of injustice, analysis revealed four sub themes: (a) responding to discomfort, (b) critiquing/distancing, (c) stopping, and (d) feeling blessed. These themes and sub-themes represent teacher candidates’ lived experiences of engaging in critical consciousness, primarily focused on critical awareness, critical reflection, and critical analysis. Implications for developing equity-oriented and responsive middle grades teacher education are provided.

The ecology of language teacher assessment literacy: Insights from emotional critical incidents

Despite the substantial growth of research on language assessment literacy (LAL), the emotional side of LAL has been under-researched. In response to this gap of knowledge, the present study explored Iranian English language teachers’ LAL through the lens of emotional critical incidents (CIs). Drawing on an ecological lens as embedded in a case-study design, data were collected from narrative frames, classroom observations and post-class discussions, and semi-structured interviews. Data analyses revealed three personal, institutional, and sociocultural ecologies that shaped the teachers’ LAL-related emotional CIs and the associated sense-making, practice, and perceptions about assessment. In particular, we found that the emotional side of LAL is defined by agency, emotion labor, the need for voice, and broader discourses of assessment in Iran. Based on the findings, we provide implications for running professional development courses that build on teachers’ LAL and account for emotions as a key component of such courses.

Ethical workplace climate in nonprofit organizations: Conceptualization and measurement

AbstractEthical workplace climate has been extensively researched in the for‐profit context but neglected in nonprofits. Perhaps because nonprofits promote shared values, engage with people, and implement development interventions creating public good, they are considered implicitly ethical. This assumption has been questioned in recent studies. We attempted to develop a psychometrically valid scale measuring ethical workplace climate following a sequential research design to fill this gap. We interviewed 74 employees from 30 nonprofit organizations using the critical incident technique to generate statements on ethical workplace climate. The statements generated were categorized with expert judges' help, followed by a survey of 507 nonprofit employees across India. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) resulted in a 43‐item scale, further reduced to 26 items using stepwise regression. Results of subsequent application of EFA and CFA confirmed a four‐factor solution: self‐interest, collegiality, internal legitimacy, and stewardship. A follow‐up study of 243 members of nonprofit organizations confirmed the hypothesized relationships that ethical work climate has a significant effect on affective commitment and job engagement. Finally, we discussed our findings along theoretical contributions, implications, limitations, and future direction.

Quasi-soliton control in optical lattices with longitudinal exponentially modulation

The dynamical evolution of one-dimensional quasi-soliton in Kerr-type linear-nonlinear optical lattices with the exponential asymptotically longitudinal modulation is investigated. The optical lattice features both the transverse linear refractive index modulation and the nonlinear coefficient periodically modulation. The analytical solutions of the integral beam center, the mean square of the beam width, and the critical incident angle are obtained by adopting the effective particle approach. The dynamical trapping and switching phenomena have been observed. Moreover, the introduction of the longitudinal modulation improves greatly the mobility of the soliton. The propagation states of the quasi-soliton can be controlled by varying a variety of parameters, such as the depths of the linear nonlinear lattices, the form factor and the incident angle of soliton, as well as the asymptotic rate of longitudinal modulation. Thus our results offer a new opportunity for the all optical manipulation of light beam.

ORGANIZATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES TO DEACREASE A RISK OF CRITICAL INCIDENTS DURING ANESTHESIA

Resume. The introduction of checklists during anesthesia could affects the critical incidents incidence during anesthesia.
 The purpose of the study. Studying the impact of organizational technologies the checklist «Safe Surgery» and the checklist of anesthesia equipment on the frequency of critical incidents in Ukrainian hospitals during anesthesiology.
 Materials and methods. The audit was conducted at the Department of Surgery, Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of Postgraduate Education of Bogomolets NMU.
 Results. Critical incidents occurred in 150 (12,73%) cases in the control group and 63 (5,95%)) in the intervention group (OR 0.43 [0.32-0.59], p<0.0001).
 Conclusions. Being a method with a consistently proven positive effect in almost any surgical environment, a checklist is a reliable way to implement modern safety standards. The checklists used by most anesthesiologists during anesthesiology helped reduce the number of errors and shortcomings during manipulations.

An Integrated Reporting Improvements Proposal Based on Gaps in Governance Systems from State Companies in Brazil

The article proposes improvements in the integrated report, based on gaps identified in the governance system of Brazilian state-owned companies, which impact on their perception of value for the results/performance of these companies. The Governance System’s gaps were obtained using the bibliometric, critical incident technique, and a lexical/content analysis. These gaps were compared to the Integrated Reporting identifying convergences and divergences. The following gaps influence a negative perception of the Governance System’s ability to add value: inadequate people management, lack of results/performance orientation, harmful political influence, ineffective project management; misalignment with organizational culture; bureaucratization and complexity of processes; flaws in the organizational structure; unbalanced controls; and lack of cooperation and partnerships. The Integrated Reporting method could work more appropriately on the following variables, so that stakeholder perception is as close as possible to the real thing: Unbalanced controls, GS not focused on results, Inadequate People Management and Bureaucratic and Complex Processes, Harmful Political Influence, Conflicts in Partnerships/Cooperation, and Project Governance.

Sparks and Dynamic Co-Emergence—How Facilitators Make Sense of and Learn from Critical Incidents in Experiential Learning and Teaching

Sparks and Dynamic Co-Emergence—How Facilitators Make Sense of and Learn from Critical Incidents in Experiential Learning and Teaching

CIRS-LAS - a novel approach to increase transparency in laboratory animal science for improving animal welfare by reducing laboratory animal distress.

The 3Rs principle is highly topical in animal-based research. These include, above all, new scientific methods for conducting experiments without an animal model, by using non-animal models (Replace), reducing the number of laboratory animals (Reduction) or taking measures to keep the stress on the laboratory animal as low as possible (Refinement). Despite numerous modern alternative approaches, the complete replacement of animal experiments is not yet possible. The exchange in the team about the daily work with laboratory animals, about open questions and problems, contributes to a reflection of one's own work and to a better understanding of the work of the others. CIRS-LAS (Critical Incident Reporting System in Laboratory Animal Science) represents a reporting system for incidents in laboratory animal science. It is urgently needed because the lack of transparency about incidents leads to the repetition of failed experiments. Negative experiences from animal-based experiments are often not mentioned in publications, and the fear of hostility is still very high. Therefore, a constructive approach to errors is not a matter of course. To overcome this barrier, CIRS-LAS was created as a web-based database. It addresses the areas of reduction and refinement of the 3Rs principle by providing a platform to collect and analyze incidents. CIRS-LAS is open to all individuals working with laboratory animals worldwide and currently exists with 303 registered members, 52 reports, and an average of 71 visitors per month. The development of CIRS-LAS shows, that an open and constructive error culture is difficult to establish. Nevertheless, the upload of a case report or the search in the database leads to an active reflection of critical occurrences. Thus, it is an important step towards more transparency in laboratory animal science. As expected, the collected events in the database concern different categories and animal species and are primarily reported by persons involved in an experiment. However, reliable conclusions about observed effects require further analysis and continuous collection of case reports. Looking at the development of CIRS-LAS, its high potential is shown in considering the 3Rs principle in daily scientific work.

Pulmonary oedema in the course of severe maternal outcome in South Africa: A cohort study combined with clinical audit.

To describe the incidence and outcomes of pulmonary oedema in women with severe maternal outcome during childbirth and identify possible modifiable factors through audit. All women with severe maternal outcome (maternal deaths or near misses) who were referred to Tygerberg referral hospital from health facilities in Metro East district, South Africa, during 2014-2015 were included. Women with severe maternal outcome and pulmonary oedema during pregnancy or childbirth were evaluated using three types of critical incident audit: criterion-based case review by one consultant gynaecologist, monodisciplinary critical incident audit by a team of gynaecologists, multidisciplinary audit with expert review from anaesthesiologists and cardiologists. Of 32,161 pregnant women who gave birth in the study period, 399 (1.2%) women had severe maternal outcome and 72/399 (18.1%) had pulmonary oedema with a case fatality rate of 5.6% (4/72). Critical incident audit demonstrated that pre-eclampsia/HELLP-syndrome and chronic hypertension were the main conditions underlying pulmonary oedema (44/72, 61.1%). Administration of volumes of intravenous fluids in already sick women, undiagnosed underlying cardiac illness, administration of magnesium sulphate as part of pre-eclampsia management and oxytocin for augmentation of labour were identified as possible contributors to the pathophysiology of pulmonary oedema. Women-related factors (improved antenatal care attendance) and health care-related factors (earlier diagnosis and management) would potentially have improved maternal outcome. Although pulmonary oedema in pregnancy is rare, among women with severe maternal outcome a considerable proportion had pulmonary oedema (18.1%). Audit identified options for prevention of pulmonary oedema and improved outcome. These included early detection and management of preeclampsia with close monitoring of fluid intake and cardiac evaluation in case of suspected pulmonary oedema. Therefore, a multidisciplinary clinical approach is recommended.